Family
by TheRoseThatKnowsPain
Summary: Luffy misses his brothers dearly, but he realizes that this is his family, too; and although there is pain and sorrow, the world is still full of love. Ace/Sabo/Luffy brothers-after-death situation. Nakamaship and somewhat(?) fluffy.


Sometimes, Luffy dreams of his childhood.

There are smiles and laughs and sunshine and _love_, and always, Luffy drowns himself in memories and he just forgets. Forgets that he is a pirate, forgets that he is on the Grand Line, forgets that the two most import people of his family are _dead_, forgets the pain and regret and self-resentment and despair and—

And then he wakes up, and he feels the ship rocking from side to side, and he _remembers_. And then, his eyes are haunted and tired and _young_, and he wishes to return to the time when being a pirate was merely a dream far off in the future and where Sabo and Ace were teasing him affectionally.

But then, someone knocks on his door, like Usopp or Zoro, and that someone tells him that it's time for breakfast and hurry up because there won't be anything left if you don't get your lazy ass moving, and Luffy smiles widely, remembering.

Because then, he goes into the kitchen, seeing Zoro and Sanji argue again, Usopp, Franky and Chopper roaring in laughter, Robin and Brook chuckle delightfully, Nami grumble about being surrounded by idiots, and laughs loudly; because yes, Ace and Sabo were his family and dead and irreplaceable, but Luffy thinks that he wouldn't trade what he has now for anything else in the world.

(_Somewhere, high up in the sky, two men, one blond and one black haired, smile and laugh at each other._

"_I think he's going to be fine," says the blond man, grinning like a fool and watch__ing__ Luffy inhaling the food off the table._

"_Luffy? Of course he will," the black haired man says, grinning down at Luffy and laughing at __the boy's demise as he was hit over the head by his navigator 'for being and idiot'__. "__Otherwise I never would've died so easily!__"_

"_Of course," the blond says sarcastically, smiling at the other man knowingly, his eyes melancholic. "Neither of us would've."_)

Because this, he knows, is also family, and protecting them is, and always will be, his top priority, and Luffy has to smile at that thought.

(_Ace. Sabo. Seems like I won't be joining you two for a while, __so __c__an you guys wait for me, __until__ I fulfill our dreams?_)

"Oi, idiot!" Sanji snaps at him suddenly, a vein popping on his forehead in annoyance. "What's there to laugh about?!"

But Luffy just continues smiling, even after being hit again by Nami, and says, "Nothing."

Even if this is not his childhood, the world is still full of smiles, laughs and sunshine, and he loves it despite the pain.

(_We'll meet again, so wait for me. Until then, I'll fulfill our dreams and protect this family. Is that alright?_)

(_Somewhere, high up in the sky, two men, one blond and one black haired, smile sadly and look at their little brother lovingly._

"_Of course, little brother._

"_We'll wait forever if we have to._")

And Luffy's smile widens, and he knows, _this is family_.

_This is love_.

* * *

Author Note:

I've looked up One Piece again, because it's a show that I've watched when I was smaller, and I remembered it. And then, although I knew that Ace had died, I've watched that moment where he did and cried T^T because I'm a sucker for older brother figures, especially protective ones. And really, when I researched Luffy, and found out about Sabo, I just had to write this. I had to, I really did. It did not help that **akurosa **has amazing stories of Luffy and the Straw Hat Crew, and her stories were sometimes so sad that I felt my heart nearly break. So if you're hungry for some fluffy Zoro/Luffy (no real yaoi, more like Shounen Ai) or Luffy/Straw Hat Crew, then please read her stories.

I'm thinking about writing a story about the D. Brothers, like some sort of one-shot series, maybe a one-shot in an alternative universe, like being reborn into the modern day, or possibly where it's still the original One Piece story-line, but with Sabo well and alive, and some kind of random moment happening.

However, I don't know how they interacted when they were younger and **I would greatly appreciate it if any of you could tell me in what episodes they appear together, either all three of them of only Ace and Luffy, please**, because although I have a general idea of how they interacted, I want to make them as accurate as possible. So **please answer me**.

Also, please tell me if you liked this or not, because I usually write in past tense, and not in present tense like here.

Thank you for reading, please review!


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